CH 13

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

(unedited)

『My one and only brother, Denver Noctis. 

I have heard that you have returned to the capital. And got married. I am sad that you did not inform me first, but I suppose there were circumstances that prevented you from doing so. I have organized a banquet for you at the palace. I invite you for the grandest of reasons, but the truth is, Denver, I just want to see you. My dear brother, Denver. I hope you will attend, along with your beautiful wife. 

Your only brother, 

Entry Noctis.』

The letter, written in a neat and gentle typeface, was full of the crown prince’s love for his brother.

It was almost too good to be true.

“Is there anything else I should do, besides attend the palace banquet with you?”

“I’m glad you’re so perceptive.”

The imperial palace. This isn’t just a grand duke going to visit his brother.

The Empress Dowager and the prince are there.

“The banquet is being hosted by the crown prince, so the Empress Dowager probably won’t be there. But Prince Omen will be there.”

Prince Omen is rumored to be stupid.

Unlike the evil Empress Dowager, who would stop at nothing to get her son on the throne.

He loved entertainment, and his specialty was getting drunk and falling asleep.

“He doesn’t seem to be wary.”.

“He may be slow in the head, but he’s just like the Empress Dowager, and he does a lot of mean things, so be careful.”

“Do I strike you as the kind of person who would be subjected to low-spirited acts by the prince?”

I asked, snorting.

I hadn’t seen what the Empress Dowager and the prince had done in the past, but there was no way I was going to be taken down easily by a fool.

“Yes. So be careful.”

The Archduke grinned, jaw set, as if he knew that would be the case.

The warm sunlight made him look like a languid beast.

“It means to win without being beaten and not to stand out while winning.”

I wouldn’t make a fool of myself at a banquet of high-ranking nobles.

It’s a bit unfair to think that she should be treated nicely.

“I see.”

But what can I do, my life is mortgaged. I have to listen to him.

When I nodded in the affirmative, the Grand Duke smiled in satisfaction and gave me a toast.

“By the way, do you know how to dance?”

Dancing?

As I turned to leave, the Grand Duke asked me an offhanded question.

All I could think of was a young, handsome idol dancing on a colorful stage.

“If you don’t know, learn.”

As I pictured skinny limbs moving in a dazzling display, I suddenly realized.

I’m in a goddamn novel, where men and women dance grotesquely together.

***

“Do we have to do this?”

“So the hostess of Noctis doesn’t know how to dance and wants to be stuck to the walls of the ballroom?”

Yep. I must not be stuck on the wall of the ballroom because I have the last name of Noctis.

But do I really have to practice like this?

“You could have gotten me a teacher to teach me to dance.”

The Grand Duke insisted on being my dance teacher.

So here we are, standing in the ballroom of the mansion.

“The banquet is in three days, and do you think you’re going to be able to learn everything in that time?”

“Yes. …… Does that have anything to do with the fact that Your Excellency yourself will be teaching me?”

“Well, yes.”

The Grand Duke pulled my waist closer to him as the piano began to play without warning.

“If you’re not going to learn it perfectly, then follow me.”

The sudden closeness made me look away.

‘What the f*ck is this…….’

I may or may not be able to learn the dance perfectly.

It was unlikely that Flotty, who grew up discriminated against, would have learned to dance in social circles.

In other words, I don’t know anything.

Neither did I know how to drink tea gracefully, or use different utensils for different foods.

“And you asked me to call you by name.”

“…….”

“Flotty.”

She was close enough to feel his breath on the nape of her neck through her dress, but his demeanor remained relaxed.

There was a gleam of amusement in his jet-black eyes.

“Relax your shoulders.”

“…Relax.”

“Put your hands on my shoulders.”

I did as I was told, and they resembled a man and woman dancing.

“Relax your expression.”

Bowing his head, the Grand Duke straightened his posture and smiled naturally.

I seemed to be the only one blushing at the unexpected touch.

The Grand Duke led me with smooth, flowing movements.

“Be careful not to step on my feet, or you’ll look ridiculous.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

I will stomp on his feet on purpose.

I’ll be wearing high heels, so it should hurt.

Seeing me grimace in spasmodic suppression, the Grand Duke chuckled.

“One would think you were dancing with your enemy, not your beloved.”

“Don’t worry, I’m the type of person who becomes better with practice.”

The Grand Duke, who was said to have imperial blood in his veins, led my stiffened body with skillful movements.

His hands clasped tightly around my waist, making it easy for me to move along.

When I finished the dance without stepping on anyone’s toes, he let go of my waist without regret.

“I don’t think we should tie your hair up.”

“It’s too long for that, so I think it would be uncomfortable.”

It’s hard enough to keep up with the dancing without having my hair flying around.

When I firmly rejected the strange suggestion, the Grand Duke waggled his eyebrows.

“Better not tie it up, though.”

“Hmph. It’s prettier untied. I don’t need to look pretty for others.”

“Who said you’re pretty?”

I didn’t say I was pretty, I said I don’t have to do it, you goddamn Grand Duke.

The shame was on me, just like a person drinking kimchi soup.

“I didn’t mean it like that, I just said it because you keep pushing me to do weird things. I’m done practicing, so I’m going to go.”

My face heats up over nothing.

I turned away from him and irritably pulled the ornament out of my hair.

Because of someone who doesn’t like me even when I say something.

“Much better.”

I hate him to no end.

As I flutter my hair and glanced, the Grand Duke smiles as if he doesn’t know what’s wrong.

I want to punch him in the face.

“Go and review.”

***

[You’re going in the presence of high ranking people?]

Please be quiet, damn you.

The whole way to the palace, she wouldn’t stop talking.

[Is the Emperor there?]

[Hey, you’re going to see a lot of fine things].

[Hey, you’re so lucky because of me, why don’t you say thank you?]

I tried my best to ignore the crazy old woman’s ramblings.

In the silence of the carriage, her voice echoed in my head, making me dizzy.

“You do not look well.”

The Grand Duke, who was sitting in front of me, flipping through a book, glanced at my face and asked.

I squirmed in protest, but the corset tightening around my waist was making me motion sick.

Plus the old woman’s nonsense.

There’s no way I look well.

“I’m feeling a little queasy.”

“Oh, no. What’s wrong with my wife?”

I’ve never met a man with a better digestive system than him.

Anyway, hate, hateful, vile.

For better or worse, the carriage reached the palace.

The palace was as grand and beautiful as any castle I’d ever seen in Perus and the mansion the Grand Duke had bought in the capital.

“Is this…….”

[The imperial palace?]

“I thought I told you to be quiet.”

I gritted my teeth before stepping out of the carriage and silently questioned her.

[What, are you mad at me?]

It’s the first day of the mission, and she’s distracting me.

There’s a lot of snow, so the Grand Duke, who walked first, offered to escort me.

“You’re so sweet.”

“I always am, for you.”

Shameless.

The Grand Duke spoke nonchalantly, his face never changing.

His affectionate smile was a bonus.

“I am honored.”

I clasped his outstretched hand.

A line of carriages, apparently belonging to high-ranking nobles, lined up in front of the palace entrance.

All eyes were on Grand Duke Noctis.

To the mysterious Denver Noctis, the star of tonight’s banquet.

***

[Narrator’s POV] 

“My God, is that really true?”

“Pfft, that’s ridiculous, are you sure you’re looking at the right person?”

“Even if I did see it right, she’s famous in social circles. Purple hair, rat-like gray eyes.”

“No way……. She hasn’t even made her debut on the social scene, has she?”

Despite what Flotty thought, she was the center of attention at tonight’s banquet.

Not in the welcoming way, of course, but in the gossiping way.

The nobles who arrived at the banquet hall first were busy gossiping about her like nobody’s business.

“The man next to her was Grand Duke Noctis, I’m sure of it.”

“Nonsense. What happened to his head when he went to the northern fiefs?”

Otherwise, they couldn’t imagine a woman like that…….

They didn’t have to say the slurred words, everyone understood.

‘Flotty Bevenia.’

Oh, how much fun they’ve had with that name.

It had been gossip to chew on since birth.

A child born with the family colors reversed.

A priest on a pilgrimage happened to stop by the ducal residence and said.

‘The cursed child.’

The Duke of Bevenia, who valued his family’s honor and his own dignity so highly, did not appear in public for some time after the Princess’s birth.

Shame and disillusionment.

The moment she stepped into the ballroom, she felt as if all the chattering voices were directed at her.

“Yes, Miss Natasha, you must be mistaken.”

“My Lady.”

Her sun-red hair fluttered, and the young ladies made way for her on either side like the miracle of Moses.

“They say it’s safe to assume that House Bevenia is now wiped out.”

“What? House Bevenia?”

Skin as smooth as porcelain, hair flowing with luster.

At a glance, she was a noble-bred young lady.

A noble princess, who could have grown up without ever seeing the dark side of the world.

The one and only flower of society, the one and only princess of the Empire.

“The foolish Duke of Bevenia. They say he harbors impious hopes of becoming emperor.”

“Nay, my dear, such an ignorant, shallow……!”

“Somehow, I didn’t see the Duke of Bevenia, who never fails to make an appearance at a banquet!”

The assembled women raised their voices in a new round of gossip.

At the center of it all was Diana, Princess Kellus, the center of all the men’s attention.

“Grand Duke Denver Noctis and Grand Duchess Flotty Noctis are entering!”

Silence descended on the gossipy ballroom like a cold shower.

There was only one reason.

Grand Duchess Flotty Noctis.